Payin' Players - Spurrier, Saban, Muschamp, Miles, Nutt, Mullen, and Dooley

[Townhallsavoy]

DESTIN, Fla. -- Steve Spurrier has a plan to pay football players -- and it wouldn't cost schools or conferences a dime.

South Carolina's head ball coach offered an interesting yet far-from-feasible proposal Wednesday that would give 70 players a $300 stipend every game.

Spurrier acknowledged that the plan probably won't get very far at the Southeastern Conference's annual meetings or in the NCAA realm, but it could open the door for future dialogue on the issue of sharing millions in college football revenue with the guys who really make it happen.

Spurrier, Alabama's Nick Saban, Florida's Will Muschamp, LSU's Les Miles, Mississippi's Houston Nutt, Mississippi State's Dan Mullen and Tennessee's Derek Dooley signed the proposal.

SEC Commissioner Mike Slive called it a "generous gesture."

"The bottom line was that they support, as coaches, the concept of full cost of attendance," said Slive, referring to other proposals nationally that would require schools to pay student-athletes cost of living expenses.

Spurrier, who lost his voice two days earlier, whispered his proposal to fellow coaches Tuesday night and then told reporters about his plan a day later. There weren't a lot of details, mostly just signatures on a piece of folded-up paper with a few typewritten paragraphs.

But Spurrier had done the math. And knowing that football coaches, especially those in Bowl Championship Series conferences, are making enough to foot the bill. He said the players could use the extra cash to give to their parents for travel, lodging and meals, or they could take their girlfriends out for dinner.

"A bunch of us coaches felt so strongly about it that we would be willing to pay it -- 70 guys, 300 bucks a game," Spurrier said. "That's only $21,000 a game. I doubt it will get passed, but as coaches in the SEC, we make all the money -- as do universities, television -- and we need to get more to our players.

"We would like to make that happen. Probably won't, but we'd love to do it."

The total cost would be less than $300,000 for a coach whose team plays 14 games. But Spurrier acknowledged that not every coach in the country would be able to do the same, and there certainly would be potential Title IX implications and other hurdles.

"I just wish there was a way to give our players a piece of the pie," Spurrier said. "It's so huge right now. As you know, 50 years ago there wasn't any kind of money and the players got full scholarships. Now, they're still getting full scholarships and the money is in the millions. I don't know how to get it done. Hopefully there's a way to get our guys that play football a little piece of the pie."

Kentucky coach Joker Phillips said Spurrier's proposal was received well, but he declined to sign it without more details and discussion.

"We had a dialogue with it," Phillips said. "We talked about having a way to put money to allow the prospects to get some type of expense money. Steve brought a proposal in that opened up some dialogue. ... Just us having a dialogue was important. It wasn't a real standard deal, so I wasn't willing to put my name on anything that wasn't set in stone."

Miles signed it without hesitation, saying it's time to start discussing paying players.

"We want to start a very open dialogue about how to have some of those players who make such a great contribution on Saturdays, who are good students, good people, that are really having hardship even under full grant-in-aid situations, be able to get them some money," Miles said. "That really is the issue.

"I think Steve Spurrier makes a good point with the proposal. In the actual workings, I think it's flawed. But I'm for starting that dialogue. It opens the door."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6616618

[djsimp]

I like the idea. I seriously think the players should get paid some sort of an amount. Yes yes, they have scholarships and all that but I agree with Spurrier. The schools and coaches are getting paid some serious cash so it wouldn't hurt one bit to through the players a bone or two.

This told me all I needed to know though.

SEC Commissioner Mike Slive called it a "generous gesture."

[Buzz Killington]

Spurrier just needs to get his boosters to give the players Big Al...um, er...Cocky stuffed animals before each game stuffed with hundreds.  He's so far behind the times in this game...

[Townhallsavoy]

I don't like the idea of paying all players extra money.  Most people who go to college take out loans, work a job, or have their family pay for everything.  They don't need anything more than a full scholarship.

I think poor student-athletes should be able to apply for an extra stipend.  It'll prepare them for the real world we live in - don't have enough money?  Ask the Big Man to give you more. 

But seriously, some of these kids show up to Auburn (and other schools) with nothing.  They don't have the ability to get a job because school and football encompasses all of their time. 

I worked an OV with a defensive linemen that ended up signing with Miss St a few years back.  He showed up with his mother, his two brothers, and his two little sisters.  Dad was out of the picture.  They were po'.  It seemed like a sad situation. 

What would it hurt to throw him $200/month and make him turn in his receipts to a coach or mentor?  He could learn how to manage money and have a little bit extra to buy himself a decent dinner.

[JR4AU]

I don't like the idea of paying all players extra money.  Most people who go to college take out loans, work a job, or have their family pay for everything.  They don't need anything more than a full scholarship.

I think poor student-athletes should be able to apply for an extra stipend.  It'll prepare them for the real world we live in - don't have enough money?  Ask the Big Man to give you more. 

But seriously, some of these kids show up to Auburn (and other schools) with nothing.  They don't have the ability to get a job because school and football encompasses all of their time. 

I worked an OV with a defensive linemen that ended up signing with Miss St a few years back.  He showed up with his mother, his two brothers, and his two little sisters.  Dad was out of the picture.  They were po'.  It seemed like a sad situation. 

What would it hurt to throw him $200/month and make him turn in his receipts to a coach or mentor?  He could learn how to manage money and have a little bit extra to buy himself a decent dinner.

I understand what you're saying, and sort of agree, except that stance is hard to reconcile with the fact that others are profiting BIG off these "student athletes".   I understand the argument that they're getting an opportunity at a valuable college degree.  But hell, we even hamstring these kids with stupid rules like not being able to trade gear that is rightfully theirs for goods and services like, say, tattoos.

I don't know what the right answer is.  Spurrier's suggestion is noble, but it won't work.  Not all coaches make $3-$4 Mil a year.  And why 70?  There's 85 on scholarship, or there should be.  How do you reconcile not paying those other 15?  Is 70 the number you can dress per game, or travel with? 

[Buzz Killington]

I understand what you're saying, and sort of agree, except that stance is hard to reconcile with the fact that others are profiting BIG off these "student athletes".   I understand the argument that they're getting an opportunity at a valuable college degree.  But hell, we even hamstring these kids with stupid rules like not being able to trade gear that is rightfully theirs for goods and services like, say, tattoos.

I don't know what the right answer is.  Spurrier's suggestion is noble, but it won't work.  Not all coaches make $3-$4 Mil a year.  And why 70?  There's 85 on scholarship, or there should be.  How do you reconcile not paying those other 15?  Is 70 the number you can dress per game, or travel with?

I believe 70 is the number you can travel with.  Makes perfect sense for road games, but what about the other 15 kids for your normal 6 or 7 home games?  I suppose that since they didn't crack the two-deep, that they won't have dates anyway...

[Snaggletiger]

Never happen.  First off, Spurrier's intentions are noble but he's really proposing this to get the schools to agree to pay.  These coaches are not going to pay these kids $250K a year out of their own pockets, regardless of how much they make.  More importantly, Title 9 would nip it in the bud because even if the coaches were paying, the girls tennis team would demand/sue for the same thing.  Last, you get dangerously close to student/athletes becoming employees of the University.  Whole new can of worms there including a workers comp claim for every injury.

[AUChizad]

South Park nailed it with the Crack Baby Athletic Association episode last week.

However, I tend to err with Townhall on this.

Make no mistake, these kids are better off than any of us were in college.

Room, board, and tuition leaves some extra cash in their pockets. They're practically on the Tiger Card plan that most of us who were at Auburn from 2000-2006(ish) where on, except instead of mommy paying the bills, it's the Universities.

I agree that it's pretty unfair that the schools are making 9 figures off of these kids and barely paying them shit, but the fact is, they're getting a free education, a free place to live, and some walking around cash that they wouldn't otherwise have...unless they joined the NFL.

When you strip the situation down to the bare facts, these kids are getting paid (even if only marginally) to play on a sports team for their school. Something most of us did voluntarily at the high school level. Granted, our high schools weren't raking in millions off of us, but still.


My proposal? Give the kids who want to go straight to the NFL that opportunity like baseball allows, and basketball used to. Don't want a free education and some walking around cash while you get it? Take the risk and be a professional early.

Secondarily, I think they should get kickbacks for things like jersey sales and their likeness in video games, the same way the NFL does. Let's quit pretending that people bought #2 jerseys last year arbitrarily. Go ahead and throw "Newton" on the back, and write the man a check.

[JR4AU]

South Park nailed it with the Crack Baby Athletic Association episode last week.

However, I tend to err with Townhall on this.

Make no mistake, these kids are better off than any of us were in college.

Room, board, and tuition leaves some extra cash in their pockets. They're practically on the Tiger Card plan that most of us who were at Auburn from 2000-2006(ish) where on, except instead of mommy paying the bills, it's the Universities.

I agree that it's pretty unfair that the schools are making 9 figures off of these kids and barely paying them shit, but the fact is, they're getting a free education, a free place to live, and some walking around cash that they wouldn't otherwise have...unless they joined the NFL.

When you strip the situation down to the bare facts, these kids are getting paid (even if only marginally) to play on a sports team for their school. Something most of us did voluntarily at the high school level. Granted, our high schools weren't raking in millions off of us, but still.


My proposal? Give the kids who want to go straight to the NFL that opportunity like baseball allows, and basketball used to. Don't want a free education and some walking around cash while you get it? Take the risk and be a professional early.

Secondarily, I think they should get kickbacks for things like jersey sales and their likeness in video games, the same way the NFL does. Let's quit pretending that people bought #2 jerseys last year arbitrarily. Go ahead and throw "Newton" on the back, and write the man a check.

I heard Pugh and Ziemba on the OD one morning talking about their stipend they get already.  If you don't live in the dorm on campus, and didn't have a meal plan card (don't recall all the details), seems it amounted to roughly 12-15K a year.  If you're eligible, then you get a Pell Grant on top of that.  Both agreed that it was plenty to pay the bills, and have some pocket cash too, IF you were smart with it.  Neither of them qualified for Pell Grant. 

As we see from NFL players...you can give some of these kids Millions, and they'll be broke in 5 years. 

The NFL isn't going to change their 3 years out of HS rule, and they shouldn't.  If the NFL goes the "farm system" route like baseball, then maybe, but then college football will be ruined IMHO, unless you want to go watch a bunch of nonathletic smart kids play.  ESPN isn't clamoring to air Vandy vs Duke, or Princeton vs Yale games that I know of.     You'd never see another 5 Star on the college field again, and probably about half the 4 stars would be skipping college as well.   And then guess what has to happen...colleges have to have "incentives" to get the good players to go to college, and not semi-pro.  And we all know where that would lead.  Where's Mike Dyer going to go play footall if he has a choice between the Huntsville Rockets, a farm team for the Indianaoplis Colts that will pay him $100K a season right out of HS, with NFL coaches coaching him in an NFL system, or to Auburn, where he gets $180K once, in cash, delivered in a paper sack to his apartment at midnight?

[War Eagle!!!]

I get so tired of the arguement that "Universities are making millions off these kids."

Bull-fucking-shit.

Cam Newton. Mike Dyer. Nick Fairley. Lee Ziemba. Damn fine football players. But they get just as much, if not more from the university as the university gets from them.

Some one will play QB for Auburn this year after Cam was gone. Auburn was RBU before Dyer stepped on Campus. And I am pretty sure we will have an offensive and defensive line this year as well. And you know what? I am sure that the school will still make millions. It's not the "kids" that are making the money...it's the university. It's the school pride. Kids come and go. Auburn will always be.

So should players get money? Fuck no. They get a free education, free place to stay, and free food...have you seen what the athletes get to eat at Auburn for FREE??? Anything else and we might as well drop the school affiliation and just draft a minor league system for football. Let's see how that shit will work and see if all the millions are generated when the universities names aren't a part of it.

Fuck this idea...

[JR4AU]

I get so tired of the arguement that "Universities are making millions off these kids."

Bull-fucking-shit.

Cam Newton. Mike Dyer. Nick Fairley. Lee Ziemba. Damn fine football players. But they get just as much, if not more from the university as the university gets from them.

Some one will play QB for Auburn this year after Cam was gone. Auburn was RBU before Dyer stepped on Campus. And I am pretty sure we will have an offensive and defensive line this year as well. And you know what? I am sure that the school will still make millions. It's not the "kids" that are making the money...it's the university. It's the school pride. Kids come and go. Auburn will always be.

So should players get money? Fuck no. They get a free education, free place to stay, and free food...have you seen what the athletes get to eat at Auburn for FREE??? Anything else and we might as well drop the school affiliation and just draft a minor league system for football. Let's see how that shit will work and see if all the millions are generated when the universities names aren't a part of it.

Fuck this idea...

I understand the argument that they're getting a high value education, all the things they get like great food and board, and that it's supposed to be amateur sports.  I'm not sure which camp I'm in on paying them.  They get "paid" a little bit now over and above what other scholarship student non-athletes get now.  And IF I had to declare now, I'd say "this his how you pay your dues to either get to the NFL or get the diploma that will help support you the rest of your life...go make your own money after college like every-fuckin'-other swingin' dick has to."   However, to argue millions are not being made off them is bullshit.   

[AUChizad]

I understand the argument that they're getting a high value education, all the things they get like great food and board, and that it's supposed to be amateur sports.  I'm not sure which camp I'm in on paying them.  They get "paid" a little bit now over and above what other scholarship student non-athletes get now.  And IF I had to declare now, I'd say "this his how you pay your dues to either get to the NFL or get the diploma that will help support you the rest of your life...go make your own money after college like every-fuckin'-other swingin' dick has to."   However, to argue millions are not being made off them is bullshit.

Agree.

I get that we're pulling for Auburn, not individual players, but it's a hell of a lot more fun to pull for your team when Cam Newton & Mike Dyer are playing on it, than it is for whoever Vandy's QB and RB are, neither of which I can name without googling.

Just sayin.

[War Eagle!!!]

I understand the argument that they're getting a high value education, all the things they get like great food and board, and that it's supposed to be amateur sports.  I'm not sure which camp I'm in on paying them.  They get "paid" a little bit now over and above what other scholarship student non-athletes get now.  And IF I had to declare now, I'd say "this his how you pay your dues to either get to the NFL or get the diploma that will help support you the rest of your life...go make your own money after college like every-fuckin'-other swingin' dick has to."   However, to argue millions are not being made off them is bullshit.

Fuck that. Millions are being made because of the school. I will guarantee you that a "minor league" system wouldn't generate a fraction off of what college football does. Hell, it hasn't in the past with other leagues...that's why they have all gone away.

Why are the majority of people fans of certain teams? Because most of them have an affiliation with these teams. I didn't go to Auburn, but my mother and father did, as well did their parents, as well did my mothers grand father. You think that I would give a fuck like I do if I wasn't shown what Auburn is at an early age? It's more than football. That's why we have a baseball forum, a basketball forum and a political forum. Football is a huge generator of cash...but it is AUBURN football that is the huge driving force.

Fans flock to their old schools because they feel they are a part of something. Sure, everyone that was wearing a number 2 or a number 34 knows who's jersey it is...but it is an AUBURN jersey. It's not a Cam or Bo Jackson jersey.

I just completely disagree with the whole argument...And this is coming from someone who actually played D1 football...

[War Eagle!!!]

Agree.

I get that we're pulling for Auburn, not individual players, but it's a hell of a lot more fun to pull for your team when Cam Newton & Mike Dyer are playing on it, than it is for whoever Vandy's QB and RB are, neither of which I can name without googling.

Just sayin.

Yet during the 5-7 season, you spent a lot of money going to games and talking about it on message boards. Why? Because you love Auburn.

Sure, everyone wants to win, and it is a lot more fun to win obviously. But you said more about the fucking Saints when they won the superbowl than I have heard you say about them for the past 8 years I have heard you post. Hell, I didn't even know you were a saints fan. However, I would be willing to bet that someone can't know you for a day and not know you are an Auburn fan. Why? Because you went to school there and you not only love the football team, you love the place...

My point is that "minor league football" could not exist without the college's support and fan base. It couldn't happen...

[JR4AU]

Fuck that. Millions are being made because of the school. I will guarantee you that a "minor league" system wouldn't generate a fraction off of what college football does. Hell, it hasn't in the past with other leagues...that's why they have all gone away.

Why are the majority of people fans of certain teams? Because most of them have an affiliation with these teams. I didn't go to Auburn, but my mother and father did, as well did their parents, as well did my mothers grand father. You think that I would give a fuck like I do if I wasn't shown what Auburn is at an early age? It's more than football. That's why we have a baseball forum, a basketball forum and a political forum. Football is a huge generator of cash...but it is AUBURN football that is the huge driving force.

Fans flock to their old schools because they feel they are a part of something. Sure, everyone that was wearing a number 2 or a number 34 knows who's jersey it is...but it is an AUBURN jersey. It's not a Cam or Bo Jackson jersey.

I just completely disagree with the whole argument...And this is coming from someone who actually played D1 football...

There's been no true attempt at a farm system for the NFL here in the US.  NFL Europe was, but that's there.  Don't know how it would be if they had a true NFL farm system here as far as making money.  I tend to think the NFL knows how to put a good product out, and that may be why they have not...they feel it wouldn't sell. 

Would people still go to Jordan Hare to watch a bunch of slow white boys play football?  Yep, but if the product got watered down, the profits would decline greatly.  Not disappear, but decline. 

[CCTAU]

I wish the NCAA would stay out of the programs that worked in the past. Having lived at Sewell Hall, I saw first hand how that type of environment was great for helping young men away from home for the first time adjust to life without rules. Some of those guys were wild as hell. If not for the rigid guidelines set up, I don't think half of them would have made it. At that time, I think the argument for paying players would have been stronger than it is now. EVERYTHING was provided by the athletic department. No money changed hands(that we knew of) so there was no way to be frugal and have a little pocket money.

But today, the smart players can figure out how to live in a modest environment, cook their own food and be able to save some money. So once again we come back to education.There needs to be a all out effort to help the young guys understand how to do this. Maybe the smart seniors can teach a course each year on how to save money. But to pay these players now, is really not as needed as it was back in the 80's.

The only other issue I have with folks comparing an athletic scholly to a normal scholly is that while in an athletic scholly, you are not allowed to hold a job. So getting a job for extra money is not an option. On any other scholly, as long as you make the grades, you are pretty much free to do whatever.

There needs to be a way that each player's landlord is tied to the AD so that if a player is late one time, he has to attend a money management class. Make a player attend enough times, he'll pay his rent on time or have to explain to the coaches why he is not. Then he might not be robbing other students for back rent. But as far as outright paying them, I'm not sure if that is as needed as we think.